The potential for the abduction of infants from hospitals is a valid concern of all involved: the parents, the hospital, and the public. There is a need to provide a simple, cost effective and safe means which seeks to remedy this specific threat.
In the past, "tracking systems" were developed to locate a missing person or animal and/or which proposes an alarm system which sounds with egress, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,814,751 to Hawkins; 4,136,338 to Antenore; U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,284 to Leveille et al. However, these disclosures are dissimilar to the present invention in that the present invention employs a simple economical circuit device clandestinely placed on the infant's diaper while the others consist of highly visible and complex radio, antenna, and electrical systems. Furthermore, the complexity of these various systems is prohibitive for disposable use situations and for large scale, economical applications. Most importantly, in use, these prior systems are easily discovered by an abductor or kidnapper of the infant and defeated. No known device or system utilizes an innocuously placed sensor on an infant's diaper or even on children and adults wearing apparel to guard against abduction from within a controlled area.
Other known devices which are attached to an infant's diaper are solely for the purpose of detecting wetness by the soiling of an infant's diaper. Baidson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,235; Chia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,014; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,023 to Xie. The purpose of such devices is to detect the fact that the infant has soiled his diaper and not whether the child has been abducted.
The devices of the type shown in Hartings, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,504 and Gomi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,369 are anti-theft devices, such as those used by department stores to discourage shoplifting. However, these disclosures are dissimilar from the present invention because first, such systems serve an entirely different function in protecting intangible goods over human infants, second, they utilize different mechanical devices and tend to contain highly complex circuitry, thirdly, they do not purposely tend to hide or conceal the sensor on the infant and, fourthly, they are not suitable for use in a non-intrusive manner with newborns or infants.
Pressure mats or switches as shown in FIGS. 3-4 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,706 to Bollag or U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,180 to Vance are not feasible because the system would have to be deactivated for each newborn or infant when held by his parent, care giver or to be examined by a physician. The present invention allows the infant to be held, fed, comforted and temporarily moved for medical tests, bathing etc. within the guarded confines of a nursery or hospital.
The human limb mounted band or collar configured sensor or transmitters shown in the prior art as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,477 to Watson or U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,755 to Holzgang et al. are not appropriate for a newborn or an infant. Such devices would interfere with the newborn's health, be visible to the would-be kidnapper and would provoke health concerns of the newborn from the parents, physicians and nurses.
All other known devices are for monitoring or detecting pets, humans, or shoplifted goods, but do not provide or intend to keep the sensor hidden, still be non-intrusive to the wearer and yet be easy to implement, disposable and economical. While the foregoing references may be tangentially relevant to the present invention, it is clear that none of the prior art, taken singularly or in combination, teaches, hints or suggests the very economical and dependable system taught by this invention.
Briefly, the present invention comprises a system of notifying personnel of an unauthorized removal of an infant from a hospital or similar setting. Past incidents demonstrate that infant abduction from hospitals is a genuine threat. This poses major liability concerns for hospitals and day-care centers. Parents are naturally concerned for the utmost security of their infant and the public seeks to prevent such potential tragedies.
This invention can allay these fears by providing a reliable and economical system for detecting an unauthorized, attempted abduction of an infant or child. Another benefit of this invention is that, unlike other detector devices which are in direct contact with an individual, the sensor device in this invention is applied to a diaper and not directly to the infant's person. This eliminates any potential for self-harm by the infant or the health concerns of placing foreign objects near to or on a newborn or an infant. The invention system is equally applicable to use with children, adults and the elderly. The sensor or tuned circuits of this invention are intended to be passive and without their own power sources contained within the sensors or on the wearer.